Blade Liger
The Blade Liger is a Lion-type Zoid, a race of mechanical lifeforms from the fictional Zoids universe. The Blade Liger features heavily in the first two anime series’, Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force, as it is piloted by the main character, Van Flyheight. It also plays a relatively important role in the Battle Story and secondary roles in the Zoids: New Century Zero and Zoids: Fuzors anime. Overview While the Shield Liger's capabilities were solid for its day, the Blade Liger improves upon them, being faster and more agile than its predecessor. It also gains new weaponry, the most noticeable being a pair of Laser Blades capable of cutting through all but the densest of enemy armour. Its E-shield is enhanced with the addition of four cooling units located in the white 'fins' of its shoulder armour. Like the Shield Liger, it sports a Shock Cannon on its chest, albeit a longer dual-barreled one as opposed to its predecessor's shorter triple-barreled variant, and the Pulse Laser Guns found on the blunt sides of the Laser Blades add to the Zoid's ranged combat abilities. Anime In the Chaotic Century anime, Van Flyheight's Shield Liger evolves into the first Blade Liger with the help of his Organoid, Zeke, after being destroyed by Raven's Geno Saurer. In contrast, much of the Blade Liger's enhanced performance in the battle story comes from the newly-discovered Organoid System built into the Zoid's design, which was used in upgrading it from a Shield Liger and increases its capabilities compared to a 'normal' Zoid. Battle Story appearances The arrival of the Geno Saurer in ZAC 2099 posed a severe problem for the Republican army's forces on the Western Continent. With its high performance and devastating Charged Particle Cannon, the Geno Saurer was more than a match for anything that their forces fielded. When upgrades of the Shield Liger and Gojulas proved to be difficult to use, the Republic developed a new Zoid, the Blade Liger. The Blade Liger's high performance made it a dangerous opponent, capable of matching up against the Geno Saurer and other new Guylos Zoids. However, the Guylos Empire created a new Zoid from the Geno Saurer's design to counter the Blade Liger, the Geno Breaker. Against the Geno Breaker, the tables were again turned against the Blade Liger. Despite this, the Blade Liger was still an effective fighter, especially after the development of the Attack Booster System, allowing it to go toe-to-toe with the cutting-edge technology of the new Guylos Zoid. A Blade Liger piloted by Lt. Arthur Borgman was also instrumental, with some help from a Geno Breaker, in the defeat of the rogue Death Stinger (both Zoids were destroyed though, leaving the Geno Breaker pilot the sole survivor). Problems with manufacturing the Organoid System limited the production of the Blade Liger. As a result, it was largely replaced in frontline service after the new Liger Zero was deployed in ZAC 2101. Media appearances Anime Chaotic Century-Guardian Force The Blade Liger first appeared in Zoids: Chaotic Century episode 25, mid-way through the series. After Van's Shield Liger was destroyed by Raven's Geno Saurer, his Organoid, Zeke, and the Ancient Zoidian, Fiona, merged with the wreck. The Zoid 'evolved' into a new form to increase the Zoid's over all performance and combat capability, over the course of several days, to create the Blade Liger, a completely unique Zoid. It was in this first appearance where Dr. D gave the Zoid its name, based on the steel Laser Blades it was equipped with. Van used the Blade Liger for the remainder of the series, defeating both Raven's Geno Saurer and Prozen's Death Saurer. 's Blade Liger]] Van continued to use the Blade Liger throughout Zoids: Guardian Force. During the course of the series, the Blade Liger was upgraded to include several new weapons, such as a system that could quickly switch out the Pulse Laser Guns attached to the Laser Blades for sniper rifles or gatling guns. The Blade Liger's E-shield was upgraded to neutralize charged particles in order to counter the Geno Saurer. At the arrival of the Geno Breaker, Van's Blade Liger was further upgraded for higher performance and maneuverability with a new top speed around 325km. It could reach 350km with the new Attack Booster Unit attached, making it the fastest Liger of its time. Over the course of the series the Blade Liger survived many near fatal attacks. Still, Van used the Zoid to great effect throughout the series. The AB unit was only used a few times, and wasn't used after the battle with the Geno Breaker (when the Death Stinger's CPC fired at the base, it might have destroyed the disengaged Attack Boosters - in episode 60, The Giant Fortress, the Blade Liger is seen leaving the Ultrasaurus with the AB unit equipped, but as it jumps off the boosters disappear, implying that it was an editing mistake with stock footage). The feats of the Blade Liger in this series is often exaggerated from the actual performance of the Blade Liger in the Battle Story or other media. For example, in episode 29 of Chaotic Century, the Blade Liger is show to outrun a Black Redler. The Black Redler was an improved version of regular Redlers (which have a top speed of Mach 3). This would mean that the Blade Liger was able to travel faster than Mach 3 (as a comparison, Mach 3 is 3,675 km/h, over ten times faster than the regular Blade Liger's top speed of 305 km/h). New Century Zero Leon Toros used a red Blade Liger during Zoids: New Century Zero. Despite the Blade Liger's very specific origins in Chaotic Century, the red Blade Liger's were never explained, leading to much fan speculation. It was described as a rare Zoid with "only a handful of units in existence" — according to Dr. Toros, a red one was even rarer. Leon first encountered it roaming a valley "traveled by the greatest Zoid warriors of the past"; the red Liger was wandering alone like him, operating under its own free will. Leon Toros and the red Blade Liger became one of Bit Cloud's and the Liger Zero's rivals, and was able to match up against the base armour in close combat. However, Leon never managed to officially defeat Bit, as their first battle was interrupted by the Backdraft. Leon and his Zoid also appeared in the Royal Cup, facing the Schneider armour this time. The Blade Liger was able to counter the Zero Schneider's Buster Slash Attack, but was overpowered and defeated by the new Seven Blade Attack. Despite losing the battle, Leon managed to render the Schneider inoperable, forcing Bit to use the Liger Zero's Panzer armour and the basic armour for its remaining battle against the Berserk Fury. The final attack Leon's red Liger used is notably the same one Van's blue Liger used against the second Death Saurer in Chaotic Century; activating the boosters and E-Shield, directing the shield's energy to the Laser Blades and flipping them forward to tear through enemy armour with more force and speed. Leon used this attack against Bit in the Royal Cup; while it managed to counter the Zero Schneider's Buster Slash, it ultimately failed against the Seven Blade attack. Dr. Laon's explanation of the Ultimate X's mystery hinted that the Blade Liger may have some characteristics of an Ultimate X, as they both have an Organoid system of some sort. However there is no supporting evidence other than some video games and the Battle Story, both of which state that an "Organoid System" is required to build one. This leads to further speculations that Leon's Blade Liger could also be an Ultimate X. Fuzors Blade Ligers in Zoids: Fuzors were associated with Rastani and the Black Impact Team. Unlike the previous series', the Blade Liger was depicted as a common Zoid, albeit a high-performance one. The Black Impact Team's metallic-grey Blade Ligers are notable as being the first Zoids to fight against a Fuzor, the Killer Spiner, which was able to take out all three of them effortlessly. The only other Blade Liger seen in the series was trapped with other Zoids set for destruction by Alpha's minions, and was coloured primarily white. In episode 7, RD, Dr. Pierce, and Dan investigate an area where two Blade Ligers were ambushed by the Holotech Zaber Fang - though the Ligers are never seen on-screen they might have belonged to the Black Impact Team. The original Blade Liger's animation model differed significantly from the model's design, possessing a far wider body, along with a differently-shaped mouth, producing what some fans regarded as a 'goofy grin'. The animation model used in Fuzors was heavily revised, resulting in an appearance that corresponded better to the model kit. Also, the base colours differ from that of the other series. The Blade Liger's legs were normally black and the body was light grey, but the Black Impact's Zoids had a black body and dark blue legs. The claws also differ, being smaller and leaner like those of the Liger Zero. In some episodes of the series the Zoid's colours appear inconsistent, such as the armour segment connecting the canopy to the head. Rastani's Blade Liger's Laser Blades would later glow blue instead of the standard yellow in episode 11. He stated that he had added extra voltage to the blades' laser systems to counter RD, resulting in the blue blades. His Laser Blades would remain blue for the rest of the series, implying that he kept the voltage weapons (interestingly, after he acquired the voltage weapons, his Blades' hilts would appear the same shade of gold as the blades themselves when uncharged). Besides Rastani, the other Blade Liger pilots had a tendency not to use the Zoids' E-shields. Manga Chaotic Century After Caesar (Van's Shield Liger) was heavily damaged during the fight to protect the town of Porto from Raven and the Geno Saurer, it became snagged on a power line leading from Wendeen (the ancient Zoid that provided wind power to Porto). Thanks to the combined efforts of Fiona and Wendeen, Caesar was encased in a heart-shaped cocoon on Wendeen's body, allowing Caesar to evolve into its Blade Liger form. Caesar continued to fight as a Blade Liger until the fight against the Death Stinger, where it was again heavily damaged. Its core was then transplanted into the frame of the Republic's new Liger type Zoid — the Liger Zero. In the manga, there are a handful of changes to the Blade Liger's abilities. Notable among them is that the E-Shield can be focused in any direction, and can be used to support the Blade Liger over water, as well as through it. The Blade Liger's blades in the manga don't possess the yellow laser system from the anime, but it does have something similar that allows it to fire it E-Shield at its target, able to propel its target without damaging it. The Blade Liger's name was never directly mentioned as the Zoid's type, although Melissa Su (a 10-year-old scientist and genius) does mention that the Zoid's shield would easily be able to propel a Blade Liger through the water in the 8th manga, meaning that the Zoid was known though a rare one. Video Games The Blade Liger made appearances in most of the Zoids video games, including the Zoids Saga and Zoids VS series. It plays a moderate role in both, piloted by Van during a time shift and at the end of the game in Zoids Legacy (Zoids Saga II). The Blade Liger AB in Zoids Saga loses its ability to use the Laser Blades, but it uses Laser Fangs instead. In the Battle Story, Anime and Zoids VS the Blade Liger AB can use its Laser Blades simultaneously with the Attack Boosters. Both Van's and Leon's Blade Ligers make appearances in Zoids VS II (Zoids Battle Legends), where they are fought separately in Battle Mode. The Blade Liger Leon version is the most powerful type, according to the in-game stats. The second time you fight Van in Battle Mode, he is piloting a Blade Liger AB, even though he only piloted it once in the anime. In the Zoids VS series, a variant of the Blade Liger called the Blade Liger KS is an improved version of the Blade Liger and is available in the shop at the start of the game. It is black with a blue trim, though it is completely unrelated to the Mirage Infinity KS model kit. Because of its well-balanced stats and reasonable price, it is recommended to be one of the first Zoids you buy. In addition, a Blade Liger Mirage is available in the game as the second most powerful Blade Liger. Although it does not come with an Attack Booster system like its model kit counterpart, you can still attach one to it if you wish (in the game, the Attack Booster can be recolored to match the Mirage in a similar white and red color scheme, unlike the model kit version, which is black). In Zoids VS 2 mission mode, the Blue Unicorn team can obtain a Blade Liger "if" you don't cooperate with Rottiger Team fighting the Seismosaurus. In the Zoids VS series and later in the Saga series, Max Rubin plays a pivotal role with his unique Blade Liger. No Shield Liger was available in the first Zoids VS game, so, instead of begining with the Shield Liger like Van, Leon or Rastani, Max obtains a Blade Liger as his first Liger-type Zoid. At first the Blade Liger was red; obviously identical to Leon's, but after an intense battle, Max's Zoid turned white. In Zoids VS and Zoids Legacy, this white Blade Liger has a tan trim and blue fenders above its paws and its Attack Boosters are also blue. In the Zoids Saga series, Zoids: Battle Legends and Zoids VS III Max's Blade Liger is identical to a Blade Liger Mirage. Unlike most Blade Ligers, Max's Zoid could use the Strike Laser Claw attack. In the Game Boy Color game Jashin Fukkatsu!, Van starts piloting a Shield Liger, which you can upgrade to either a Shield Liger Mk.II or a Blade Liger (though neither option involves evolution) or sell and replace with another Zoid of your choosing. There are also wild Blade Ligers. In Silver Zero, the Blade Liger is found wild in the areas before Hope Tower. By default, it has very high attack and solid defense on the physical/melee part of its stats, making it useful to catch and use against the final boss. Trading Cards The Blade Liger appeared as part of the Trading Collection Cards and Zoids Card Colosseum sets of Zoids Trading Cards. The Blade Liger AB was featured as a card in the Original Battle Game; the Blade Liger BI appeared in Zoids Scramble, and a Blade Liger Van Special was used as a promotional card for the Original Battle Game. Webcomic Two variants of the Blade Liger appeared in the Zoids Battle Story Webcomic. They were the Snipe Liger and the Slash Liger. Both are designated as RZ-028+ and have yet to appear as model kits. The Snipe Liger was designed for long range combat, and thus is lacking in melee weaponry. It makes up for this with firepower and defense. Slash Liger, by contrast, improves on the Blade Liger's close combat ability to the point of specialization. Its only ranged weponry is the shock cannon on its chest, but it compensates with its speed and power. A few standard Blade Ligers appeared in the comic as well. File:Slashliger.jpg|Slash Liger File:Snipeliger.jpg|Snipe Liger Snipe Liger Weaponry & Equipment: Long-Barrel Linear Launcher, Gojulas-type Buster Cannon (Short Barrel) (2), Shoulder-Mounted Micro Missile Launcher (4), Anti-Personnel Mini Gatling, Chaff Dispenser (8) Slash Liger Weaponry & Equipment: Improved Laser Blade (2), Booster Pod (2), Bite Fang, Laser Scissors (2), AZ 3-Barrel Shock Cannon, Tail Knife Models New Japanese Release *Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.) *The model's colours are molded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint; however some details are pre-painted. The Blade Liger kit comes on six frames (two of which are shared with the Shield Liger), along with a battery-powered motor (based on that used by the Shield Liger), a semi-transparent canopy cover, sixteen rubber caps, and a frame containing mini figures of the Zoids anime characters Van, Fiona and Zeke. The Zoid's teeth and claws are made out of metal. The Blade Liger is molded in blue, black, and grey, with gold teeth and claws and an orange canopy, and features a painted white trim. The Blade Liger's construction isn't overly complex or difficult, putting it roughly in the middle of the range for Zoid complexity. Due to the number of frames shared with the Shield Liger, there are several parts left over when built, which include the Shield Liger's tail, back turret, top mane shield panel, and missile launchers. The Blade Liger uses a pair of "AAA" sized batteries for motion. Once activated, the Zoid walks forwards with its jaws chomping. The Blade Liger also features two movable panels on its mane, a pair of retractable boosters, and a pair of blades that can be moved into a variety of positions. The Blade Liger's molding has been somewhat inconsistent; many Blade Ligers have loose or poorly-fitting parts, especially the head. There is no real consistency, with individuals within production runs having different issues. In some cases, different parts of each Blade Liger may or may not be painted (for example, the very first run of the NJR version has a grey tail fin instead of blue), and two different canopy colours have been seen in production (some in yellowish-orange, which is more common, and some in dark-orange, which is less common). The metal claws and fangs have been seen in two different shades of gold as well. Later examples of the NJR production run replaced the metal components with plastic equivalents. The Zoid's cockpit is specially designed for the anime pilot figures, but a single standard pilot figure can fit in the front seat. Blade Ligers sold in secondary markets (like China) commonly have plastic teeth and claws, instead of metal ones like in the Philippines. TOMY also released an upgrade kit for the Blade Liger, the CP-12 Attack Boosters. The Boosters are mounted on the Blade Liger's blade hinges, and can be positioned to act as boosters or a second pair of shock cannons. Additionally, the Blade Liger can also use the CP-15 Assault Gatling Unit. Later, Academy released a version of Blade Liger for the asian market, named the Blade Liger AB, that came with the CP-12. Several chromed versions were made by Tomy as contest prizes. The Zoid was also re-released in near identical packaging as a part of the New Pacific Release. Extra.JPG|Parts of the Shield Liger that come with the Blade Liger. NJR Blade Ligers with parts.JPG|Blade Liger with Shield Liger parts. Notice the difference in appearance with the regular Blade Liger. Spur.JPG|Character sprue that comes with the Blade Liger. Gachapon Minis The Blade Liger was released with the first wave of Gachapon minis. Blade Liger Leon A limited edition version of the Blade Liger was released as a magazine exclusive in 2001, based on the version Leon Toros used in New Century Zero. The Zoid's base colours were the same as the NJR version, but the armour colour was changed to red. Strangely, the Blade Liger Leon came with the NJR version's sprue of anime figures, despite the fact that the red Blade Liger in the anime was piloted by Leon and not Van. No standard pilot figure was supplied and no pilot figure of Leon himself was ever made. The Zoid came with the same RZ-028 sticker sheet as the NJR version. New American Release The Blade Liger was re-released in North America by Hasbro in 2001. This version was based on the Blade Liger Leon, although the red was a lighter colour and the legs were light grey instead of black. Additionally, the Zoid came with plastic teeth and feet, and did not have any pilot figure supplied. Blade Liger Mirage This limited edition version of the Blade Liger was released in Japan in 2003 under the Yuji Kaida line of re-issues. It was recoloured with white armour and black legs, and the white trim repainted red. Additionally, it included a repainted CP-12 Attack Booster. This version had a standard pilot figure, rather then the anime pilot frame. A mini figure of this Zoid was released that was made available with the Zoids Struggle video game for the Nintendo Gamecube in Japan. It did not have the Attack Boosters. Blade Liger Mirage KS Otherwise known as the Infinity Blade Liger Mirage KS Limited (Kanon Special; Kanon being the name of the Liger's female pilot), Blade Liger Mirage Infinity or Pink Liger, is an even more limited version of the Blade Liger Mirage version. It was the same with the earlier Mirage except for the trim which was changed to pink. It came with a blue CP-12 Attack Booster. It was released to advertise the Zoids Infinity video game in limited numbers (100 sets) and released also as a contest prize giveaway. The Blade Liger KS from the Zoids VS video game was never released as a model, but many fans have created their own custom versions of this Zoid. In addition, TOMY has created their own custom versions of this Zoid and were distributed in very few numbers. The Zoid is considered to be "unofficial." New European Release TOMY released the Blade Liger in England in 2003. This version was identical in colouration to the NJR version, but had plastic teeth and fangs. Like the NJR version, the NER version suffered from very inconstant production. The Red NAR Blade Liger was also released in the UK in the same packaging but with TOMY logos. Limited Blade Liger Hasbro created another version of the Blade Liger for North American release. This version was coloured metallic grey with black legs, and included a standard blue pilot figure. Oddly, the Blade Liger's tail appears to have the Shield Liger tail gun instead of the regular tail fin. The Zoid was scheduled for a late 2003 or early 2004 release, but due to the cancellation of the line, the Zoid never reached production. A few prototypes, complete with packaging, are known to exist. It is likely that the remaining prototypes were released in the U.K. as leftover stock and may or may not have been re-packaged with TOMY logos compared to Hasbro ones. Today, an MIB example of this Zoid in the original packaging is worth much more than the Fuzors edition. Forest and Night Fight Blade Liger This limited edition Zoid was released solely in Asian markets in 2004. The Zoid was recoloured in dull brown and light blue, with a lime-green trim and a yellow canopy. This version came with the same sprue of anime figures that were released with the NJR Blade Liger, and had plastic teeth and claws. The Zoid was redesignated as RZ-028''F''. The only other Asia limited Zoid was the Cannon Diver Original Asia Limited Deep Sea Version. They were released at the same time, and both Zoids have a similar colour scheme to complement each other. Blade Liger Black Impact This limited edition version was released in 2004 as a part of the Fuzors model line. Based on the Blade Ligers in the series, this version is near-identical to the unreleased Limited Blade Liger, and may have been produced from left-over unreleased stock. However, as with the few examples of the Hasbro Limited Blade Liger seen, they had silver feet on the box instead of gold. It is not verified if the model itself had these silver feet, or if it was just box art. This is because there is no known photo of the Zoid itself, only its packaging. The Fuzors version had gold metal teeth and fangs and silver blades, and came with a standard pilot figure. Despite being a Black Impact Zoid, the BI Liger does not come with any custom Black Impact sticker sheets, instead coming with the NJR Blade Liger sticker sheet. To attain the Black Impact insignia stickers, one has to buy the Chimera Dragon from the Fuzors line. High-end Master Model Also known as the HMM Blade Liger, this 1/72nd scale model was released in 2007. Made without any mechanical moving parts whatsoever, it has a far greater range of poseability as opposed to previous models. Its molding was also done in greater detail, making the finished product truer to the original anime. The 1st HMM Blade Liger was mostly colored blue with a white trim, had gold claws and teeth. There was no Attack Booster or anime figures, but did feature all of the other features of poseability from the HMM kits. The zoid includes 2 pilots, as the zoid has 2 seats in the canopy. This model also featured poseable blades and a retractable booster. The kit is usually around $60 USD. The 2nd HMM Blade Liger was called the Blade Liger Leon AB. This variant had the blue armour of the standard HMM Blade Liger recoloured to red, being based off the Limited Blade Liger Leon model kit. No anime figure was supplied but did come with a redesigned CP-12 that was also recoloured to match the zoid. Otherwise, it is identical to the standard HMM Blade Liger. This variant is usually worth $70-$100 USD. In September of 2009, a Japan only limited edition Blade Liger AB Van Specification ''was released in the Japanese model hobby show by order only. It came with detailed Van and Fiona pilot figures as well as a Zeke organoid figure that could be transformed into a Zoid Core. The Zoid is in anime accurate colors. Like the Blade Liger Leon AB, it comes with an Attack Booster which is recoloured to match the Zoid. The people who ordered the kit received it in late December 2009. An HMM Blade Liger Mirage is due for release in August 2010. A bonus included with the kit is the Leomaster stickers set. A prototype was seen of the HMM Blade Liger in a new color scheme. It was never released. File:Hmm_bliger.jpg|''HMM Blade Liger File:Hmm_bligerab.jpg|''HMM'' Blade Liger Leon File:Hmm_slvan.jpg|''HMM'' Blade Liger AB Van Specification bladey HMM mirage.jpg|HMM Blade Liger Mirage protokotoBL.jpg|Prototype HMM Blade Liger|link=http://pagesperso-orange.fr/Ultrasaurus.Red/protokotoBL.htm Revoltech Released in July 2010 as part of the Revoltech line, the Revoltech Blade Liger is quite different from previous Blade Liger model kits. As with the HMM version, it features no motor, but has an even wider range of flexibility. However, it is smaller than most other Blade Liger models. A red variant, based on Leon Toros' Zoid from New Century Zero, is soon to be released. References *http://pagesperso-orange.fr/Ultrasaurus.Red/fuzor_liger.htm[mailto:lionel.tosan@wanadoo.fr] Category:Zoids Category:Liger-Type Zoids Category:Helic Republic Zoids